iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I am excited to announce a new endeavor: The Blackhurst Project! Partnering with the Blackhurst Cultural Centre and A Different Booklist, we have developed a Project for cultivating black thought in this current sociopolitical moment—a think tank, so to speak. www.eventbrite.ca/e/2002569660...

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Grateful to have this oppprtunity to complete Be Real Black for Me: About the Matter of Roberta Flack (@dukepress.bsky.social) with this Fellowship. www.english.utoronto.ca/news/assista...

english.utoronto.ca

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

My Fall and Winter/Spring classes! And be on the lookout for some major news, ranging from a collaboration here in Toronto 👀 to additional events and occasions this school year, whether guest lectures in these classes or public appearances, that solidify I am here to do the work that is mine(s). 👍🏾

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

If you are in or around Toronto in three weeks, I invite you to attend two events happening in the same week with details for each below. We hope to see you there and more soon . . .

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

There’s still time to register for these events tomorrow with a small update: The Fordham event will be over Zoom due to the weather. Links to register below—we hope to see you then! Holloway lecture: qfreeaccountssjc1.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_... Fordham lecture: luma.com/hvcobbiu

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Sasha Ann Panaram @sashapanaram.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

On February 24, 2026 from 6:45 pm to 8:00 pm, Dr. I. Augustus Durham (@imeanswhatisays.bsky.social) will visit @fordham.edu to discuss his book Stay Black and Die: On Melancholy and Genius (Duke University Press) in Freeman Hall, Tiered Lecture Hall 103. Join us! RSVP here: luma.com/hvcobbiu

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

I am excited to be in conversation next week with @sashapanaram.bsky.social and Fordham English—if you are free on Tuesday at 645p, come on out to hear me discuss #StayBlackandDie (@dukepress.bsky.social). Check the link below to register: luma.com/hvcobbiu We hope to see you there!

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

I am excited to share an upcoming guest lecture for my (under)graduate seminar, Black Messiah: Tuesday February 24, 2026 at 1p EST, we will host a conversation with Dr. Karla FC Holloway on Octavia E. Butler’s short story, “Bloodchild.” Check the link 👇🏾 to register as this event will be on Zoom:

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

With all this talk about Toni Morrison, I thought I would add to the conversation but not like you would hope . . . 👀 Last semester for my Minor Morrison seminar, I tasked my students with making book covers for the final project. And so, I give you Recitatif, A Mercy, and God Help the Child.*

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Before Rosa Parks . . . Her story is an anecdote I often share during book events for #StayBlackandDie (@dukepress.bsky.social) as a way to chart the long history of the phrase. #RIP

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

I am excited to share my most recent @bombmag.bsky.social feature when I interviewed Terence Nance on his album, V O R T E X, and how it is a part of an ever-evolving continuum of his aesthetic work, an extension of his (random) acts of flyness—check the link below! bombmagazine.org/articles/202...

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Black Messiah was approved as a graduate course in November 2024; I taught it once before as an undergrad course and was excited to reframe it for a new environment. Then I thought, I will do something funky and teach the same class as an undergrad and grad course to see what through lines await.

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

Roberta Flack taught Richard Smallwood when she was a public school teacher in DC. They both came through Howard’s Music Department, admittedly at different times. I just invoked his name this summer at the Library of Congress, and he surfaces in Be Real Black for Me (@dukepress.bsky.social).

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

Gratitude to Baldwin & Co. bookstore for sharing the second part of our collaboration where Corey J. Miles and I converse about #StayBlackandDie (@dukepress.bsky.social) while in New Orleans. As well, thanks to those who attended this event, both friends and enemies. What?! 👀 youtu.be/3kRPwrcbG0Q

youtu.be

Growing Up in Melancholy: A Black Intellectual Story by I. Augustus Durham.

YouTube video by Baldwin & Co.

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

Although this conversation with Corey Miles happened earlier this year, the timeliness of its posting last week felt like it could not arrive sooner, even with me forgetting that I referenced the recently departed. Issa Vibe for Stay Black and Die. youtu.be/-1TsydT4AWo

youtu.be

Happiness Is Just a Break from Pain - Augustus Durham & Corey J. Miles at Baldwin & Co.

YouTube video by Baldwin & Co.

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

I am pleased to share a few upcoming events: Sunday, November 2, 2025, I will moderate an author panel at Toronto International Festival of Authors with authors Souvankham Thammavongsa & Ian Williams. Then on November 3, 2025, my American Literature survey, Kind of Blue, will host Sampada Aranke.

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

Be bless . . . and buy Stay Black and Die: On Melancholy and Genius. www.dukeupress.edu/stay-black-a...

dukeupress.edu

Stay Black and Die: On Melancholy and Genius

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

My fourth-year seminar, Minor Morrison, will host @kinohi.bsky.social this Monday for his lecture: What Comes Before the Haunting?: Toni Morrison’s Late Style in A Mercy. Check the Qualtrics link👇🏾 to register. (And apologies for the late arrival of this announcement due to the holiday.)

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

Simply unbelievable. And to think about what was coming in his honor in the near future . . . 🥺😔 There are no words but this was my offering, once. For @markanthonyneal.bsky.social: www.newblackmaninexile.net/2014/12/the-...

newblackmaninexile.net

The D’Angelo Cycle by I. Augustus Durham

The Digital Home for Duke University Professor and Left of Black host Mark Anthony Neal

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

If you are in or around Toronto next Wednesday, October 15, 2025, from 12-2p, you are invited to attend an important upcoming event at the Centre for the Study of the United States.

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

This Monday, October 6, 2025 at 3p, I am pleased to host Shaun Myers, Assistant Professor of English at University of Pittsburgh, for her lecture “Re-reading ‘Recitatif’ Through the Archive.” This lecture coincides with the seminar Minor Morrison in the Department of English, University of Toronto.

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

#latepost Gratitude for presenting on Marvin Gaye, from #StayBlackandDie (@dukepress.bsky.social), at the Library of Congress for Black Music Month. Being invited to a space that hosted Toni Morrison and others gave me wings! Check👇🏾 for links to my lecture and Library blog interview + more photos:

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

Tonight with DJ B-Sharp! And there may still be spots to RSVP so check the link: www.eventbrite.com/e/a2b-vinyl-... See you then!

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Tonight with @jenishawo.bsky.social! And still time to RSVP! www.eventbrite.com/e/stay-black... @dukepress.bsky.social

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Steve Kiviat @dcsuburbanite.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

Wednesday night talk at Eaton by Professor I Augustus Durham on his book “Stay Black and die: On Melancholy and Genius “ that includes a fascinating chapter on Marvin Gaye.

Poster for Professor Durham talk on August 20 at Eaton on his book Stay Black and Die

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Jenisha Watts @jenishawo.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

Come through, y’all!

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

For Black August, I am elated to share a two-day collaboration—h/t Aryn Bussey and Nina Ligon—with The Eaton DC: Wednesday, August 20 @ 7p, I and @jenishawo.bsky.social, Senior Editor at The Atlantic, will converse about #StayBlackandDie (@dukepress.bsky.social). www.eventbrite.com/e/stay-black...

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

In June, I was grateful to collaborate with the Center for Spiritual Imagination to inaugurate its Audio Divina series with “How Much a Dollar Cost” from To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar. www.spiritualimagination.org

spiritualimagination.org

Welcome | The Center for Spiritual Imagination

Contemplative Practice For Just Living | We are a new monastic community which teaches engaged contemplative spirituality and service in action. We are open to all.

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

@dem8z.bsky.social speaking to what Roberta Flack called “tryin’ times” as she quotes Frederick Douglass and invokes 1987, an important year for me.

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Today at Library of Congress. Thanks to @dcsuburbanite.bsky.social for this profile in @wcp.bsky.social, especially as an event among a host of others in DC during/for WorldPride and Black Music Month. washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7653... Also, I have two tickets available for anyone who would

washingtoncitypaper.com

Drag, Janelle Monáe, and Perfume Genius: City Lights Celebrates WorldPride, June 5–11

Celebrate WorldPride with Grace Jones, Janelle Monáe, Perfume Genius, Betty Who, and drag artists on gender. Plus, Turnover and Marvin Gaye.

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Tonight! Check below for more information—hope to see you then 👍🏾

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

🎶 Join us on May 28 @ 7p for “Meditation is a Must” Our inaugural session explores Kendrick Lamar’s “How Much a Dollar Cost” through Audio/Musica Divina. I. Augustus Durham (@dukepress.bsky.social) will offer insights to deepen our reflection. Register👇🏾: spiritualimagination.org/events/meditat…

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

One month away! Although tickets are sold out, if you are in/around DC on June 5 and think you can attend, let me know since I got it like that. 🙃 @dukepress.bsky.social

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Excited for tomorrow! Check the link in the OP for program details and registration—see you then!

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

If you can, see it as Coogler has prescribed. Also: Let the right one in . . .

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

Next week! Register at the QR code or here if there’s still availability: tisch.nyu.edu/cinema-studi... In an effort to keep things fresh as spring is here, or approaches 🤔, I will be presenting some new work.

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

If you are in or around NY on April 25, come through to this daylong symposium at NYU where I will be presenting work—maybe something new!—alongside a panel of fellow thinkers. I will share further details as they emerge. 👍🏾

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

And for my next trick— Be Real Black for Me: About the Matter of Roberta Flack. Under contract with @dukepress.bsky.social How it is going vs how it continued vs how it started You have to understand it feels like I have been writing with and against time . . . This is a project that has been

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Although it is a ways out, I have collaborated with the Library of Congress for a Black Music Month event related to Marvin Gaye and #StayBlackandDie (@dukepress.bsky.social). Tickets are available today so if you are in/around DC June 5, 2025, it’d be great to see you! www.loc.gov/item/event-4...

loc.gov

Live! At the Library—Marvin Gaye: Melancholy and Genius in Black Culture and Media

Commemorate Black Music Month with an engaging talk that explores connections between Marvin Gaye's music and the influence of George Gershwin. Featuring Dr. I. Augustus Durham (Assistant Professor of...

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i augustus durham @imeanswhatisays.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

February has come and gone but some events of note: *I was a guest of the High Table at Massey College as a new black faculty member at Toronto. *My interview for Arts & Sciences at UofT to discuss my arrival and #StayBlackandDie (@dukepress.bsky.social) www.artsci.utoronto.ca/news/i-augus...

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